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| TomTom GO 720 4.3-Inch Widescreen Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator | 
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| Brand: TomTom
Category: CE
List Price: $449.95
Buy New: $319.95
You Save: $130.00 (29%)
New (7) Used (3) Refurbished (4) from $234.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  164 reviews
Sales Rank: 2125
Media: Electronics
Memorabilia: No
Tracks: Unknown
Batteries Included: No
Native Resolution: 480 x 272
Display Size: 4.3
Includes MP3 Player: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 3.2 x 0.9 x 4.7
MPN: 1M00.780
Model: 1M00.780
UPC: 636926017114
EAN: 0036926017112
ASIN: B000SATCUQ
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 plus services not compatible on most cell phones October 5, 2007
9 out of 18 found this review helpful
I was pretty happy when i first made the purchase, reading prior reviews with the features the 720 had. After receiving the item, i immediatley powered it to my cell phone. I wanted to use the plus services for traffic,i work evenings and encounter alot of roadwork which local news radio stations fail to give.i noticed the bluetooth feature captured my 720 for handsfree,but the other features failed. the tomtom website clearly states the razr v3 is compatible,it definitly isnt, as mine reached 65% and gave me an error message,download failed.i called tomtom and was immediately given the run around,transfered to the technical dept,who then in turn transfered me to their mobile unit who never came on the phone.i emailed them directly, and received a reply that razr phones ARENT COMPATIBLE FOR PLUS SERVICES.i felt totally mislead, BEWARE IF YOU PLAN ON USING THE PLUS SERVICES WITH YOUR CELL..granted there is an optional fm/traffic antenna which will run u back $129 or more,depending when you read this.
 Want to install other maps? You're in for a suprise. September 25, 2007
344 out of 442 found this review helpful
Okay, you must be thinking... Wow, a one-star review for this new TomTom GO 720... why is that? Let me summarize first, then I will explain in more depth later.
Currently, you cannot install ANY additional maps (other than the factory-installed ones) onto a TomTom GO 720 device.
So, if you wanted to download some European maps from TomTom, copy them to your SD card and bring your new baby to Europe - that's not going to happen.
This is a major oversight by TomTom for two reasons; 1. Many people buy new portable GPS's only because they are planning a trip to an unknown country and 2. the European maps are already available for the TomTom GO 720 - they come preinstalled on the GO 720's sold in Europe (I've used them).
I purchased my GO 720 in Wash. DC before a recent move to Italy. My sales 'professional' at circuit city said that I could download all the European maps I needed from TomTom's website. Once I arrived in Italy and got high-speed internet, I tried buying additional maps from TomTom. Well, TomTom's US website does not sell downloadable maps (at this time) - I switched to the UK website, which had all the maps available. I purchased the maps from the UK site, downloaded them and tried to install them to my GO 720. The new TomTom Home software (v2) would allow me to purchase the maps, download them and transfer them to the device - but the final step, the activation of the maps, it would crash and give an application error. I know my way around computers, but this was a major issue. I phoned US customer service - they said that they would write a ticket for the event but offered no solutions. I then phoned UK customer service and after 20 minutes of juggling reps - I finally got the news bomb....
TomTom has not yet released downloadable maps for the GO 720 or 920. That's right, they released hardware (for 3 months now) but did not 'update their website' to allow purchases of additional maps. Even though these 'updated' maps come pre-installed on the GO 720's sold outside of North America... hmmm?
Be aware that none of this important information is available on TomTom's website - even a Google search turns up nothing. This is critical information to those who travel to Europe or any other part of the world.
Others have reported on this piece of hardware (with rave reviews), which I mostly agree with. However, the map software is currently another issue altogether.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 15, 2007:
TomTom has updated all of their websites except the US version to include the 720 compatible maps (v7.10 for Western Europe). I again, spent several hours attempting to install new maps, still to be met with consistent software restrictions and confusion. TomTom customer service, while polite, were completely incapable of providing any answers. I am a tech-literate consumer and I am not easily dissuaded, but I have reached my limit with this product and TomTom.
Please be aware that I am far from the only person to have experienced these types of issues with TomTom. Look elsewhere for your GPS Navi needs.
NEW UPDATE DECEMBER 6, 2007:
Alright. Finally after all these months, TomTom has released v10 of their Maps for download. And after several attempts at downloading and installing, I can now say that my GO 720 is no longer just another expensive toy collecting dust in my electronics cabinet.
So, the title of my review is no longer accurate - you CAN now install additional maps to this device - please be advised however, that you may only do this using TomTom's Home software and it must be updated to the latest version and because it's a 1.7 G download, you need a long time to complete the process.
I suggest you bring your patience and be thankful that you didn't suffer as I have.
Otherwise, all of the positive reviews about the hardware, mapping and routing are accurate. This is still a quality product and without the Map issue, I would have been a happy camper from the beginning.
NEW NEW UPDATE SEPTEMBER 22, 2008:
After nearly a ten month span of relatively trouble free and constant usage, another issue has arisen with my TT GO 720. But first, I will report a few other minor issues that occurred since my last update.
In the winter, while the unit was plugged in to the auxiliary port in my car (a Peugeot 308), the screen would go blank when the unit was touched. As you can imagine, when every time you touched the screen of a touchscreen device, it blacked out, this is a minor inconvenience. The only way to revive the unit was to a hard reset (using the little pin hole in the bottom). This method erased all our favorites and add ons and left us bummed out.
The screen black-out issue only happened when you touched the screen and did not happen when the unit was not plugged in while driving and it did not happen when it was plugged in on its base unit, powered by USB. The best we could determine was that unit receiving an electric shock from the power cord once we touched it, thus grounding it and closing the circuit. The problem was resolved when I sold the car and bought a different one. In the new car (Honda Jazz) and my wife's car (Volvo V40), the black-out issue has never resurfaced.
There have been some minor issues like varying times to lock into the satellite - one day it takes 60 seconds, the next 5 or more minutes - same exact route, same exact time of day... ?
It's also important to note that I have kept the device up to date using the TomTom Home software (which still is buggy and unpleasant).
Ok, now on to the current issue. Recently, the mini USB power cable (the end that plugs into the unit) has stopped working - or so I thought. Basically, the unit will not receive power from the power cable. So, I thought that the cable had gone bad and I tested plugging it into the USB base and it had the same problem - not receiving power. I tried a new TomTom power cable (from an electronics store), but still not getting power. So, it looks like the female end of the power in slot (on the bottom of the unit) has become defective. At this point, I have not received any positive response from TomTom - the unit is just a few weeks out of warranty (ironically) and I'll keep trying to find a solution.
I will update when there's more to report.
One last note: Some commentators have asked why I still show one star on my review, even though I would surely raise it now. Well, Amazon.com does not allow users to change their initial star ratings - so, until their policy changes; we'll be stuck with this issue as well.
 Not bad, could be better.... September 23, 2007
24 out of 27 found this review helpful
Preface- I recently took a new job which required me to move from Colorado to California. I decided I wanted to get a GPS for the trip and for the time while I was in CA, since I didn't know anyone and have never been. I felt it might make my trip easier. Based on my research I decided to purchase the newly released GO 720 from TomTom.
How I came to decide on the TomTom Go720. Initially I was going to get a Nuvii 350 from Garmin. Here is what sold me on the TomTom:
* Text-to-Speech -- to me this should be standard on any GPS in any price range. For the first part of my trip I had actually set up the TomTom in an incorrect voice and I didn't get the text-to-speech. I will say that this is NOT perfect, as pronunciation of some words is hard to make out exactly what she is saying.
* Hands-Free / Bluetooth Enabled -- I liked this feature, I will admit that I did not set my phone to connect to the Go 720, but my phone is recognizable by the TomTom so I imagine it would work. Maybe I'll play with this later.
* Map-Share -- How great is this, to be able to share maps with other members. I personally have not shared any maps or explored shared maps, but I think it is a great idea, and was an idea that sold me.
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Well over all, I'd call it a success.
When I set the GPS up for the first time, I didn't select a computer voice, which is the only voice that can do text-to-speech, so I was getting the `in 500 yards, turn left' type message instead of `in 1/2 mile turn right on Grant Ave' or whatever. Got that sorted out.
Love the searching for POI's..Made planning breaks for gas very easy. I had a disucssion with a co-worker today, who had actually started about 2 weeks before me and moved from Connecticut. He and and his wife purchased a GPS from Garmin (don't know model number). The two of us basically came to the conclusion that these GPSes were good for getting you in the general area, but with new construction and maps that aren't real-time it isn't 100% accurate.
Only thing I didn't like was I searched for a McDonald's and it actually turned me around and took me back about 5 miles via residential areas..could have done w/o the going backwards part, but we can blame that on my inexperience.
One other thing that I'm not particularly fond of is in a city, around interchanges and what not, it will tell you to keep left, or keep right, etc. What it doesn't say is, are you supposed to keep left to exit or just keep left to not exit? I'd like a clearer view of why I am keeping left, and how far left do I need to be? When there at 6+ lanes here in CA, how far left do I want to be? The work around for this would be the `Zoom-In' and `Zoom-Out' buttons in the upper corners. A + or - sign in the upper corners allows you to scale the map to see your destination in a different view depending on the view you selected.
The window suction cup thing won't hold...I have a sticky foam pad, but for some reason it won't stick to my dash (no real flat place I think). I may try and find a mount for something other than the glass. So I guess my biggest gripe is just the inability to mount this thing in a good location that is easily manageable.
The FM transmitter is nice, until I got to CA where all the frequencies have something broadcasted. Then I just had to turn it over to the internal speaker, which is loud enough for me. I didn't hook it it up to my phone yet to see if it would dial POI's or set it up to do any hands-free dialing and what not.
--Additional Thoughts--
Navigation of the menu system to me seems to be lacking...too many clicks necessary to get where you want, but again this could just be my lack of time spent with the device and over time I may find a quick means to find what I'm looking for. One feature I would like is maybe voice navigation.
So...if I had to do it all over again, I would buy this. In the past I would just Google-Map something and have a short stack of papers for Metro areas and what not to get me around. No more killing trees for me.
Here in my particular area, there is a lot of new construction. With construction, TomTom is not updated. POI's are no longer where TomTom says they are. This is of course new construction only. For most POI's this is not a problem.
TomTom sent me in the wrong direction on a couple of occasions. This is frustrating for me in the area that I'm in, and wish it were more accurate, but understand this is not real-time. Again these particular issues were related to (new) construction where traffic may be diverted.
So my TomTom has become more of a `get me in the general area' tool, more so then how do I get to the door step tool. When looking for a retail store, it'll give you the bulk of the trip, once you can see a sign and what not, I just take over and navigate myself. So initially I was a little more dependent upon the TomTom, now like I said, I'm just using it to get me close, and I take it the rest of the way in.
I still love it for finding me POI's and just general navigation as I get around town. Over time it may spend more time in my glove box than out telling me how to get somewhere.
Still a great tool, and still recommend for someone who travels to new places often. As I decide to travel more throughout Cali, I'm sure it'll come in handy.
Many problems with this unit September 19, 2007
16 out of 27 found this review helpful
There is no manual that comes with the unit. If you try to use the manual that is supposedly on the cd, it gives you a message saying there is no manual at this time. Transferring music files to use the built in MP3 player is a problem. Only about 1/2 of the music you download to the TomTom is actually downloaded. Poor customer support; I made 3 phone calls to customer service and each one told me to do something different and that the previous instructions given to me by the other technical support operators was incorrect. I even had one of the techs tell me he didn't know how to do some of the operations. The unit itself cannot even find my correct home address even tho you can find it on map quest. We've entered a couple of other addresses for the TomTom to test the accuracy of the navigation. It's a good thing we knew where the places actually were because the TomTom didn't. The screen washes out pretty badly and is hard to see in sunlight. This unit is loaded with many features, too bad it doesn't work very well. It's going back to the store. I'll give Garmin a chance.
Very Different from a Garmin August 31, 2007
78 out of 78 found this review helpful
After using a Garmin Nuvi 350 for a while, it finally was ready for retirement and I started looking for something new. The 720 seemed like a good way to go. Unfortunately for me, I have become fluent in Garminese so switching to Tomtom has been somewhat of a challenge.
The Garmin interface was simple and clean. This Tomtom does alot more so there are more menu choices and more clutter. For instance, if you want to cancel a route, Garmin had a STOP button on the screen. Tomtom requires you to go down 3 menu levels to cancel. Not that hard to do once you know where to go.
Garmin would tell me "In 500 feet, turn left on Main Street". Tomtom tells me the street I need to turn on sometime before but the actual command will be "After 200 yards, turn left". Different especially if you are used to something else. One good thing though is where Garmin said "turn left, then left" Tomtom says "turn left then make third left", better!
Routing seems better on the Tomtom so far. Garmin had a habit of routing me on small, winding, unlighted, hilly roads instead of main roads and highways. If you don't know better, you follow these backroads and it can be dangerous. So far, Tomtom has consistantly taken me to the highways which is one of the main reasons I left Garmin.
Now the bad. Favorites on Garmin are stored by name. When you select a favorite, you are shown the complete address as well. Tomtom by default stores a favorite by address. That doesn't help with a restaurant or store that you will never remembor or recognize the address. You can rename a favorite like "My Restaurant". Thats ok but then the actual address is hidden. There seems to be no way of displaying the real address of the favorite. As a work around I have just appended a name to the address so the name of a favorite will be something like "100 Main Street, Anytown, NY - My Restaurant". Its long,wordy, makes for an ugly favorites page but it works.
The Garmin graphics were generally higher resolution looking but that comes at a price. Garmin updates the screen approx once a second giving a jerky motion to the animation. Tomtom has more jagged graphics but it is smoother. Haven't decided which is better yet.
All in all I am pleased so far with the 720. Only time will tell but so far, it has done better with routing than the Garmin and thats what is most important in the end.
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